All Pro Wrestling
All Pro Wrestling is an independent professional wrestling promotion and training school, based in Hayward, California. The company was founded by and is currently managed by Roland Alexander in 1991. Headquartered 45 miles southeast of San Francisco, 15 miles south of California Oakland, and 35 miles north of San José, APW is central to all major cities with in the San Francisco Bay Area. History All Pro Wrestling opened in 1991 under the name, "Pacific Coast Sports". The school and its "Gym Wars" events maintained a strong local following throughout the 1990s, but it wasn't until professional wrestling's Attitude Era that APW gained national notoriety. In 1999, All Pro Wrestling (APW) was featured as part of the documentary film, Beyond the Mat. Roland Alexander, along with wrestlers Tony Jones and Michael Modest appeared, as they were having a tryout match with the World Wrestling Federation. The spot in the film was said to have tremendously boosted the school's "Boot Camp" sign ups. APW suffered a wrongful death lawsuit to the family of APW Boot Camp trainee, Brian Ong. On May 28, 2001, Ong was training with fellow trainee Dalip Singh, despite suffering from an earlier concussion. Singh delivered a flapjack to Ong twice, with the second with his head striking the mat and worsening his concussion. He was pronounced dead on arrival to a local hospital. Ong's family sued APW for reckless behavior. The case was filed in September 2002, and the trial was underway on June 10, 2005. After a three-week trial, on July 12, the jury voted unanimously in favor of the Ong family. APW was forced to pay $1.3 million to the Ong family. After a dispute with Roland Alexander in 2002, most of the APW roster, including trainers Michael Modest, Donovan Morgan, and Frank Murdoch left the company to start a training facility known as the Pro Wrestling IRON Tetsu Academy (now defunct). In April 2008, booker and promoter Gabriel Ramirez left the company to start his own promotion, Pro Wrestling Revolution. Former wrestling manager John LaRocca took over as head booker for the company. In December 2009, APW began televising taped shows All Pro Wrestling Gym Wars on Saturday mornings on Channel 50/Cable 199 in the San Francisco Bay Area. Boot Camp The All Pro Wrestling Boot Camp has trained and graduated a number of major wrestling stars including: Crash Holly, Vic Grimes, Michael Modest, Donovan Morgan, The Great Khali, Spike Dudley, Cheerleader Melissa, Brent Albright and Sara Del Rey. After a dispute with Roland Alexander in 2002, most of the APW roster, including trainers Michael Modest, Donovan Morgan, and Frank Murdoch left the company to start a training facility known as the Pro Wrestling IRON Tetsu Academy (now defunct). Training in the APW Boot Camp consists of three stages: Beginner, Semi-Pro, and Pro. Beginner's Camp focuses on basic fundamentals of wrestling including: Bumps, Amateur holds and takedowns, and basic pro holds. Semi-Pro Camp takes everything from the beginner's class and adds advanced professional maneuvers including: various slams, suplexes, strikes, and counters. Semi-Pro camp will start to introduce students to basic ring psychology and proper selling techniques. Pro Camp is a training class for current pro's as well as advanced semi-pros. In Pro Camp, the head instructor(s) {generally the lead veteran wrestler(s) on the roster} go over detailed selling, match structure, and advanced ring psychology. Pro Camp is designed to keep current pro's on top of their game, while helping semi-pro's advance and become more comfortable in the ring, in a match setting. The Boot Camp was briefly shown on an episode of the TV show Christina's Court. This was during an episode in which Heath Baron sued APW owner, Roland Alexander. To show the judge what a day in APW Boot Camp was like, Roland provided a short video clip of a typical class. In the clip, you can see APW wrestlers, JJ Perez, Jeckles the Jester, "Out of Control" Matt Carlos, and "Double D" Dave Dutra. APW Boot Camp graduates *Robert Thompson (1994) *Matt Hyson Dudley (1994) *Michael Modest (1994) *Joe Applebaumer (1995) *Steve Rizzono (1995) *"Leprechaun" Erin O'Grady Holly (1996) *Vic Grimes (1996) *Donovan Morgan (1996) *Vinny Massaro (1997) *Tony Jones (1997) *Maxx Justice (1997) *James Watkins (1999) *Brent Albright (1999) *Dalip Singh Great Khali (2000) *Mark "Bison" Smith (2000) *Larry Blackwell (2001) *Bobby Quance (2001) *Cheerleader Melissa Flash (2002) *James Choi (2002) *Kafu (2002) *Sara Del Rey (2002) *Dana Lee (2003) *Nathan Rulez (2003) *Vennis DeMarco (2003) *Derek Sanders (2004) *Dylan Drake (2007) *Jeckles the Jester (2007) *Sparkey Ballard (2008) *Matt Carlos (2008) *Dave Dutra (2008) *Matthew Theall (2009) *Jody Kristofferson (2009) *Tyson Thompson (2009) *Corvus (2010) *Will Rood (2010) *Mikey Jay (2011) Championships *APW Universal Heavyweight Championship *APW World Wide Internet Championship *APW Tag Team Championship Super Summer Series *2010 Winner: "The Boss" Derek Sanders (6/12/10) Young Lions Cup *2008 Winner: Matt Carlos (12/6/08) *2009 Winner: "The Real Deal" Dan Danielson (4/18/09) *2010 Winner: Corvus (4/10/10) *2011 Winner: Perry Von Vicious (4/1/11) * 2012 Winner: Jeff Cobb (5/5/12) * 2013 Winner: Marcus Lewis (11/2/13) Pick the Winner Battle Royal *2009 Winner: "The Latin Dragon" Junior Morales (1/3/09) *2010 Winner: "Out of Control" Matt Carlos (1/16/10) *2011 Winner: "The Fallen Star" Corvus (1/8/11) * 2012 Winner: Jody Kristofferson (1/14/12) * 2013 Winner: Adam Thornstowe (1/5/13) Gauntlet to the Gold *2008 Winner: Dylan Drake (10/4/08) *2009 Winner: Malachi (09/26/09) King of the Indies Tournament *2000 Winner: Christopher Daniels (12/30/00) *2001 Winner: Bryan Danielson (10/27/01) External links and references *All Pro Wrestling Official Website *APW Official YouTube Channel *APW Official MySpace *APW Official Facebook *APW on Twitter * CAGEMATCH.net Profile Category:All Pro Wrestling Category:American wrestling promotions Category:Promotions Category:California based wrestling promotions